Proudfoot's Jim Skelton writes to Council

Dear Councillors:

Mom turned 96 last December.
The property at Sand Lake is hers…

Earlier this year Mom misplaced (lost) her hearing aid.
She has one good ear in which a hearing aid works. It’s essential to replace.

Recently (last month) she had a cataract removed and needs new glasses.

And, now Kearney is about to ask her for another 4% or $210.
Money she desperately needs for glasses and a hearing aid…
Money, mostly not needed by Kearney, that will sit in a bank gathering rust.

Please excuse the above ‘personalization’ but perhaps it may help make the point.

Easy to say “Working Capital Surplus”…
However, there is no such justifiable financial requirement.
An unallocated surplus is just that “unallocated” or in other words “unneeded”!!

Please adjust your thinking and planning somewhat.
Use short term borrowing to manage timing of cash requirements.
The modest interest expense is both prudent and a legitimate operating expense.

Also please give your collective heads a shake and get realistic with your proposed tax increase.
Or, if you prefer each of you could send my Mom $30 so she can afford her share of the money not needed!

With Kearney’s elderly population the above story may well be repeated in many similar forms.
Let your conscience be your guide….
Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,
Jim Skelton
416-367-1400
25 George Street #703,
Toronto, ON
M5A 4L8

It brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it? So selfless, isn't he? Poor old Mrs. Skelton, huddled in her tar-paper shack, eating dog food out of a can...

Except that Jim Skelton's mother lives in Kitchener and Jim lives in a condo in downtown Toronto, so their properties in Kearney are lakefront cottages. 

So what Jim is really saying is that even though he and his mom own homes and cottages, and even though tax cuts are already killing student jobs, library funding (do we really need to make another list?), he and mom don't want to cough up $200. If you're so upset about poor old mom, just sell your cottage, Jim. 

Mind you, Jim might be a bit strapped for cash now that Henry Hess knows that Jim's septic is hooked up to his mom's on the adjoining property and he'll have to get his own septic bed. Tsk, tsk, Jim. It's nice that you're not leeching into the lake anymore, but it's still against the law.

Meanwhile, mom's cataracts are so bad she can't even drive Jim's Mercedes. 

And if you're wondering what 25 George Street looks like:

And here's a virtual tour of one of Jim's neighbour's condos. It's truly tragic what those poor folk in Proudfoot have to suffer through, isn't it?